August 2007

Hi Poppets! So Bellingham had its first ever Pride Parade on the fifteenth of July. God, I wish I could’ve been there. Since I wasn’t able to make it, I’m counting on someone telling me all about it. Hint, hint…

A friend in Tampa, Florida tells me their parade drew over 40,000 people this year, in spite of 90+ degree temperatures and high humidity. My sources from Montreal, Canada are actually saying that the Parade has been so successful for so long, it has almost become obsolete, wearing out its reason for existing and its welcome, even within the GLBT community. And here in Boston, we have Pride Week, which culminates in the Parade and block parties. The Parade runs right through the center of town. Two main streets are closed down all afternoon – one for the men’s block party; one for the women’s. It’s a city-wide event.

The day of the Parade, a friend of mine and I went to a matinee then wandered through the block party. Yes, this friend is a lesbian. And yes, she is a very butch lesbian. I rarely think about it. However, that day, at the theatre, our ushers and neighbors in the rows around us kept telling us what a lovely couple we were, how they hoped we were enjoying our day, had we gone to the Parade? Only one man just stared and his stare was more puzzled than anything else, not hateful at all. (My friend has a theory that he was trying to figure out if she was a man or a woman. Apparently, this happens to her occasionally.)

As she and I wandered the block party later, she commented “It is very up-in-your-face, isn’t it? We haven’t learned to celebrate without being pushy.” To which I replied, “It still has to be. We haven’t learned to let you celebrate without being pushy.”

Because for every Boston and Montreal, there is a Lynchburg, Virginia – the hometown of the late Jerry Falwell and yes, yours truly. Lynchburg had its first ever Parade about five years ago. The protestors outnumbered the participants. And I cannot find any mention of a 2007 Parade anywhere. The protestors may have won.

And in Tampa, where they drew over 40,000 people, four men also drove in from Georgia – a completely different state, for God’s sake – in order to hold up signs that read “God Hates Fags” and other pearls of wisdom. Three of them were in their fifties and sixties but one of them was only twenty-six. My immediate reaction when I heard about him was “Dear God, they got him while he was still young.”

So I am torn. On the one hand, I am thrilled that there are places like Montreal and Boston, and yes, even Tampa where only four of the 40,000 people in attendance were protestors. On the other hand, I want to say “We don’t dare become complacent. We don’t dare take this for granted.”

Because Bellingham is just getting started. Because Lynchburg is struggling. Because men from Georgia are still willing to cross state lines in order to spread hate. Because these are only the ones I know about and yet I know there must be others.

The community has come so far. That is reason to be Proud. But until every Parade is considered with nonchalance, until the celebrating doesn’t have to be up-in-your-face, we must not give up on Pride. Anywhere.

Until next month, Poppets, take care of you.